adored the game, but some fans took a much different stance, harshly rebuking the game for its story and how it handled characters that fans had loved from the original game.
As divisive as The Last of Us Part II's story is, it's hard to take issue with the rest of the game. Part II delivers on what made its predecessor such a success by including the brutal, high-stakes, stealth-based combat fans fell in love with back in 2013. The extreme danger of the first game was heightened by the post-launch inclusion of an extra difficulty mode, Grounded. Grounded sharply increased enemy damage, removed the player's HUD, made it much harder to track nearby enemies, and drastically decreased the amount of supplies available in the game world.
It looks like The Last of Us Part II is set to follow in its predecessor's footsteps. A recent update added two new trophies to the game's PlayStation page, as reported by Polygon. These apply to a newly listed Grounded mode, which seems to act as DLC. The new trophies task the player either with completing the game on the Grounded difficulty and with doing so on any permadeath setting. The description of the latter trophy seems to indicate that there will be multiple ways to play The Last of Us Part II with permadeath; perhaps it serves as a mode that can be applied to multiple difficulties.
These new updates haven't actually found their way to The Last of Us Part II yet; currently they exist solely in trophies. As such, it's still unknown how the update will actually function in-game, and what changes it will make to the experience. Grounded mode will surely make the experience vastly more difficult, if it's anything like its forebear. Meanwhile, permadeath modes can generally be relied on to stay true to their names, in that the game ends completely when the player dies even once. In a lengthy, story-based game like The Last of Us Part II, though, there are a lot of uncertainties about how to successfully and fairly implement the feature. Naughty Dog has yet to tell fans when these updates will be added to the game, so fans will still have to wait for answers.
The Last of Us Part II may have induced a great deal of controversy in the two short months since its release, but it's still a superbly crafted experience. It also sold remarkably well, contributing to a record-breaking month of sales back in June. No matter how much vitriol is directed toward the story, the game is still a success, and one that Naughty Dog clearly plans to capitalize on. For people who love The Last of Us Part II for its gameplay, the inclusion of Grounded mode should be a welcome feature.
The Last of Us Part II is available now on PS4.
Source: Polygon
